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Prisoners in Zimbabwean jails go naked

Zim Online

Mon 3 April
2006

HARARE - Prisoners in some of Zimbabwe's overcrowded jails
have to stay naked because of a shortage of uniforms that highlights
deteriorating conditions in prisons as the cash-strapped government
struggles for resources to maintain the institutions, ZimOnline has
learnt.

Prison officials and some former inmates told ZimOnline
that the Zimbabwe Prison Service (ZPS) was unable to provide adequate
uniforms for the ever increasing number of inmates resulting in prisoners
having to share the available uniforms.

Inmates on remand and
who would be attending court are the first priority to get uniforms while
those not going to court have to stay naked or use prison blankets to cover
themselves, a senior official at Harare central prison said.

Prisoners in Zimbabwe are banned from wearing their own clothes and must
wear prison-issued uniforms.

The prison official,
who did not want to be named because he is not authorised to disclose such
information to the Press, said: "There is a serious shortage of uniforms for
prisoners that they have to share.

"Priority for uniforms is being
given to suspects in remand prison who would be attending court. Some of the
prisoners have to stay naked but it's kind of rotational."

A
former prisoner at the notorious Chikurubi Maximum Prison, just outside
Harare, Elton Mandiro, said it was "most humiliating" when he and other
inmates had to hang around the prison naked because there were no
uniforms.

Mandiro, who was released from Chikurubi last month,
said: "We were told to remove our uniforms and hand them over so that the
guys going to court appearances could wear them. We would stay naked or
sometimes we would wrap those torn prison blankets but then again they are
not enough."

ZPS Commissioner Paradzai Zimondi was not available
for comment on the matter while Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, under
whose portfolio prisons fall, said he was not aware of the uniforms shortage
and promised to investigate the claims that inmates sometimes had to stay
naked.

Chinamasa said the government has tried to ensure conditions
in jails met international standards but admitted it had in some cases
failed to do this because of lack of money.

He said: "That's
(prisoners staying naked) news to me. We try to provide dignified conditions
for our prisoners according to international requirements. To a large extent
we have managed, although in some cases funding affects us."

The uniforms shortage is only one of several problems affecting the poorly
funded state jails. There is also serious overcrowding with the more than 40
prisons holding more than 22 000 inmates which is way above their designed
carrying capacity of 16 000 prisoners.

Overcrowding plus a shortage
of medical drugs in prison hospitals has seen the spread of infectious
diseases such as tuberculosis in prisons.

Food is also in short
supply with numerous reports in the past of inmates, for example at
Chikurubi prison, going for months without running water or spending weeks
on a diet of dirty cabbage soup and maize-meal porridge.

A poor
diet has resulted in a higher incidence of malnutrition-related illnesses
among prisoners.

In a confidential report to President Robert
Mugabe last February, Zimondi said conditions in the country's prisons were
so bad, with prisoners dying regularly that every inmate was virtually on
death row.

Most of those dying in prison or just after being
released were dying of treatable diseases, the country's chief jailer said
in the report.

Describing the mortality rate in prisons as a "cause
for concern," Zimondi said at one of the country's jails, which he did not
name in the report, 127 prisoners had died over a period of 12
months.

The Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) in 2004 described
conditions in prisons as hazardous and said the country's jails were virtual
death traps. The LSZ, the representative body for the legal profession in
Zimbabwe, was speaking after touring prisons.

The government is
hard pressed for resources as it grapples an acute food shortage affecting a
quarter of the 12 million Zimbabweans and a severe economic crisis that has
spawned shortages of fuel, electricity, essential medical drugs among other
key commodities. - ZimOnline

Tsvangirai says willing to pay ultimate price to oust
Mugabe

Zim Online

Mon 3 April 2006

HARARE - Zimbabwe opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday vowed to press on with plans to call mass
anti-government protests, declaring that he was prepared to pay with his own
life to remove President Robert Mugabe from power.

Unfazed by a
chilling warning by Mugabe that street protests were a dice with death,
Tsvangirai told about 5 000 supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change
party to brace up for the protests which he said he shall "lead from the
front".

"We are going to engage in mass protests and ultimately
remove Mugabe from power," Tsvangirai said, to wild cheering and applause
from the crowd that had gathered to hear the opposition leader speak at
Masvingo's Mamutse sports stadium.

"I will be leading you in
that protest, if it means Tsvangirai has to die while liberating the people
- so be it," he said in clear reference to last Friday's warning by Mugabe
that his government would crush any street protests by opposition
supporters.

Speaking at the burial of his former chief body guard
at the National Hero's Acre shrine, Mugabe told Tsvangirai that he and his
ruling ZANU PF party were battle-hardened and would not be removed from
power by mere threats.

Mugabe, who has in the past deployed
anti-riot police and the military to crush street protests, told the
opposition leader to focus his efforts on fighting elections and not "dice
with death" by attempting to unseat the government through mass
protests.

But Tsvangirai, who on Saturday held another rally in the
central town of Gweru also to mobilise support for mass protests, told his
supporters that they could never unseat Mugabe and his government through
the ballot because the government rigged elections.

Tsvangirai,
whose MDC has split leaving him in charge of the larger of the two factions
of the opposition party, said: "We have seen that elections alone will lead
us nowhere. ZANU PF has rigged elections since 2000 and therefore it is our
conviction that elections alone are not a solution."

The MDC and
Western governments say Mugabe and ZANU PF used only retained power in 2000
and 2002 by rigging and downright fraud.

Mugabe, who accuses the
MDC of being a puppet of the West, denies rigging elections and accuses the
opposition party of being a sore loser.

Tsvangirai's wing of the
MDC resolved at a congress last month to engage in mass action to force
Mugabe to embrace democracy and agree to a new constitution that would
ensure free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.

But political analysts
say the MDC's splitting into two rival parties weakened the opposition
against Mugabe, who still enjoys solid support from the military despite a
worsening economic crisis.

Mugabe, the only ruler Zimbabweans have
ever known since independence from Britain 25 years ago, has heavily relied
on the security forces and tough legislation to keep the opposition in
check. - ZimOnline

Zimbabwe central bank governor goes on charm offensive in
Russia

Zim Online

Mon 3 April 2006

HARARE - Reserve Bank for Zimbabwe (RBZ)
governor Gideon Gono is scheduled to meet Russian bankers and investors in
Moscow on Tuesday to try and persuade them to help revive the southern
African country's ailing state-owned firms.

Gono, tasked by
President Robert Mugabe to mend Zimbabwe's limping economy, is accompanied
by Transport Minister Christopher Mushowe.

ZimOnline was unable to
reach both Gono and Mushowe for comment on their mission while RBZ spokesman
Kumbirai Nhongo was also not available for comment.

But
officials at the RBZ said among non-performing parastatals that Gono will
attempt to market to the Russians was the National Railways of Zimbabwe
(NRZ) that operates the country's crumbling rail network.

The
central bank chief will also try to convince the Russians to invest in the
state's fixed telephone company, Tel One as well as the country's second
largest mobile phone operator, Net One, which is also owned by the
government.

NRZ and the government telecommunication firms are
among seven parastatals short-listed by the government last December for
complete privatisation or joint venture projects with foreign
investors.

Gono will also use the Moscow trip to try and raise cash
for the foreign currency-short Harare government, sources said.

The government last month concluded a deal with Indian steel maker Global
Steel Holdings Limited (GSHL) for the Asian firm to invest US$400 million in
the state-owned Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO).

Under the
deal, GSHL - which has a capital base of US$8 billion - will refurbish ZISCO
and operate the steel plant and will only hand it back to the Zimbabwe
government after 20 years. - ZimOnline

Addressing students at the National University of Science and Technology in
Zimbabwe's second biggest city of Bulawayo at the weekend, Rylander said
Zimbabwe's media laws cannot be compared with Sweden's since Sweden "has an
admired tradition of freedom of the press in the world."

"In
Sweden, the objectives of the media policy are clearly formulated. The aim
of media policy is to support freedom of expression, diversity and the
independence of and accessibility to mass media.

"There has never
been an agenda in Sweden to shut down newspapers, big or small, because they
cannot raise the required capital to publish nor for the simple reason that
they have changed their shareholding structures without informing
government," Rylander said.

The Harare authorities have often cited
Sweden's press laws to justify its much criticized Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) which has been used to shut down four
newspapers over the past three years.

But the Swedish
ambassador said "the source of this lurid comparison remains unclear." Ryder
also said there was no legitimate reason for the continued ban of the Daily
News and its sister paper the Daily News on Sunday after the paper complied
with the law.

The Daily News and the Daily News on Sunday,
including two other privately-owned newspapers, were shut down over the past
three years for violating certain sections of AIPPA.

The World
Association of Newspapers ranks Zimbabwe among the three worst countries for
journalists. The other two are the former Soviet Republic of Uzbeskistan and
the Islamic republic of Iran. - ZimOnline

Rural communities in Zimbabwe urged to boost
incomes

Zimbabwean Vice President Joice Mujuru has urged
rural communities to initiate projects that generate substantial income and
contribute to the development and maintenance of
infrastructure.

Speaking at a rally in Mashonaland East Province on
Saturday, Mujuru said it was time for rural communities to start
contributing taxes that would lead to the development of
infrastructure.

"The only way to ensure rural infrastructure
development and maintenance is for communities to embark on
income-generating projects that will lead to payment of taxes to government
which will in turn be used for such," said Vice President
Mujuru.

She said the government was working towards improving rural
communities so as to attract investment and development in these areas to
discourage rural-urban migration.

Mujuru said she had embarked
on a nationwide tour of rural constituencies with a team of senior civil
servants and ministers whose ministries are community development-oriented
with the task of identifying and implementing development
programs.

"Let's have empowerment programs here in rural areas and
avoid the rural-urban migration. Our people should now be moving to rural
areas but they can't do that if there is poverty. We need to improve the
standard of life here to encourage this movement," she said.

She said the government had to embark on Operation Murambatsvina because of
the increased number of social ills and vice that had become prevalent in
some of the illegal structures.

"It was in these illegal structures
that AIDS, rape and robberies were thriving," she said.

Responding to the residents' complaints over the poor maintenance of the
road network in Chikomba, she said villagers should engage in projects like
horticulture, poultry production and farming to generate wealth and
eventually pay taxes.

She said the government was encouraging
the empowerment of rural communities, particularly women, through poultry
and piggery projects to ensure the sustainability of families and ultimately
the whole nation.

"The poultry project should be taken seriously
and we expect it to eventually lead to a poultry processing plant here at
Sadza growth point," she said.

Zimbabwe embarks on new tobacco farming
techniques

People's Daily

The Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers' Association (ZTGA)
has embarked on a training program to equip farmers with modern methods of
tobacco cultivation and gradually phase out the use of methyl bromide
pesticide.

ZTGA President Julius Ngorima was quoted by Sunday News
as saying that the program is aimed at equipping new farmers with advanced
technical expertise such as using float trays and other modern farming
methods which would not require the use of methyl bromide.

"This follows indications by the World Health Organization that the
traditional methods that promote the use of methyl bromide commonly used in
Zimbabwe will be phased out in 2009," he said.

A donor
organization has offered to buy float trays and plastics that will benefit
tobacco growers who cannot afford to access them.

"The price of
float trays is beyond the reach of most new farmers and this assistance by
the donor organization will go a long way in improving the technical
expertise of tobacco growers," he said.

He said training will be
available for farmers.

Assessments conducted by atmospheric
scientists under the authority of the World Meteorological Organization
indicate that methyl bromide contributes significantly to the destruction of
the earth's stratospheric ozone layer.

The chemical is used
primarily in the growing of crops such as strawberries, tomatoes and tobacco
seedlings.

The pesticide has been found to be toxic and exposure to
this chemical is suspected to affect not only the target pests but non-
targeted organisms as well.

"Because methyl bromide dissipates
so rapidly to the atmosphere, it is most dangerous at the actual fumigation
site itself," said Ngorima.

Human exposure to high concentrations
of methyl bromide can result in central nervous system and respiratory
system failure, as well as specific and severe deleterious actions on the
lungs, eyes, and skin. Common initial symptoms include weakness,
despondency, headache, visual disturbances, nausea, and
vomiting.

Zimbabwe, E.Guinea sign comprehensive agreement

April 2,
2006.

By ANDnetwork .com

Zimbabwe and Equatorial
Guinea yesterday signed an agreement that covers trade, economic, cultural,
scientific and technical cooperation that will pave way for greater
collaboration between the two countries in various areas, including the
petroleum sector.

"What we have agreed is how our relations could
transform in various ways in the future," President Mugabe told journalists
at a Press conference he jointly addressed with Equatorial Guinean President
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo before his departure at the Harare International
Airport. Zimbabwe, Cde Mugabe said, would be very grateful to the West
African country if it were to be with petroleum products. He said
there would be further discussions between the two countries on how to
strengthen economic and cultural ties. The visit by President Mbasogo,
he said, had enhanced relations between Zimbabwe and Equatorial
Guinea. "The visit has been beneficial and on your part (President
Mbasogo) we hope it has opened a new area of cooperation. We are one people
and all of us are sons of the soil. "I want to assure you that the
agreement which we have signed will be honoured. When we make promises, we
will fulfil them," Cde Mugabe said. The President said there was need
for African countries to develop their economies using their own resources
and not for outsiders to exploit the resources of the continent.
"Only with our agreement shall outsiders have a share of our resources,"
President Mugabe said. Speaking through an interpreter, President
Mbasogo said there should be a followup to the agreement signed for it
to come to fruition for the benefit of the people in the two
countries. "We now leave it to the technocrats to deal with the issues
we have put on the table," he said. The Equatorial Guinean leader
said there were vast opportunities for cooperation between the two countries
and this included the area of human resources development.
Zimbabwe, he said, had a strong human resources base that could immensely
benefit the West African country. President Mbasogo said it was in the
interest of African countries to have exchange programmes on human resources
development taking into account that some African students who had studied
in the West had become indoctrinated with European culture. He said
Zimbabwe and the oil rich country could also cooperate by trading in
finished products as opposed to relying on the European market.
President Mbasogo, who was accompanied by his wife Madame Constancia Mangue
and several ministers and officials, left Harare yesterday for Equatorial
Guinea at the end of a threeday official visit. Foreign Affairs
Minister Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and Equatorial Guinea Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation Minister Mr Pastor Micha Ondo Bile signed the
agreement on behalf of their respective governments. The signing
was witnessed by President Mugabe and President Mbasogo. Cde
Mumbengegwi told the two leaders that the agreement was a framework document
that opened up cooperation between the two countries in different
areas. Earlier on, President Mbasogo and his delegation were shown
around ZanuPF headquarters by President Mugabe and First Lady Amai Grace
Mugabe. Soon after the tour of the party headquarters, President
Mbasogo addressed the Central Committee of the ruling party. He
said the signing of the agreement of cooperation between Zimbabwe and his
country marked the beginning of a new longlasting relationship and opened
doors for them to start working jointly in different areas. He said
Equatorial Guinea's doors were open to Zimbabwean investment and
viceversa. President Mbasogo paid tribute to the gallant sons and
daughters of Zimbabwe who fought in the liberation struggle to free the
country from colonial bondage. "The fight for liberation and
independence of a country belongs only to that nation. Therefore, any son or
daughter of this nation who might attempt to undermine the objectives of
that struggle would be easily named a traitor," said President
Mbasogo. He said the independence of a country must be exercised
practically and he saluted President Mugabe for leading the liberation
struggle and then returning land to its rightful owners. Africa
belonged to Africans, he said, amid applause from Central Committee members
and Government officials. He said in 2004, a group of people met and
planned to come to Equatorial Guinea to destabilise and overthrow its
government but, thanks to the swift reaction by Zimbabwe, the plot was
abortive. "If Zimbabwe was otherwise, it could have allowed them to go
ahead and destroy Equatorial Guinea. We have thought it appropriate to come
to you and express our gratitude for what you did," he said. The
simultaneous arrest of the mercenaries hired to stage the coup by Zimbabwe
and Equatorial Guinea, he said, was due to providence. "It was divine
intervention that you arrested the mercenaries as we also arrested them in
Equatorial Guinea. "The legacy we leave for our children should be of
brothers and sisters," said President Mbasogo. Zimbabwe intercepted
67 mercenaries at Harare International Airport in March 2004 who were on
their way to the oilrich West African country to stage a coup. The
mercenaries were tried and jailed. They were deported shortly after
completing their terms, with the exception of British national, Simon
Francis Mann, who remains in prison after being given a longer sentence for
his role as ringleader. Speaking about the concept of democracy,
President Mbasogo said it was not a tool that could be imported.
"You are the ones to choose these charismatic people you recognise to lead
you to attain your goals. It's true that it is foreigners and other nations
whose interests are always imposed on us and I wonder why Europeans think
that their own ways should be our ways too," he said. Most Western
countries, he said, were eager to come and supervise elections in Africa but
when they conducted theirs, they never invited African countries to do
so. Said President Mbasogo:"Who gave them the right to pass judgment on
African leaders and call them dictators? Are they not dictators themselves?
We have to be very watchful of what they say about us." Equatorial
Guinea, he said, was opposed to the illegal sanctions imposed on Africa and
Zimbabwe in particular because the Southern African country was managing its
affairs well. He said the political ideals of the ruling party were the
ones that were appropriate to Zimbabwe. "The nationalistic activity
being carried out by ZanuPF should continue in this regard," said President
Mbasogo. He invited President Mugabe to pay another visit to Equatorial
Guinea and meet with the people so as to learn about the country's
culture. Speaking at the same occasion, Cde Mugabe said President
Mbasogo's visit was important in respect of the ties that now existed
between Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea. "The visit has also made it
possible to discuss relations that we believe will strengthen cooperation
between our countries. "This is, indeed, a demonstration of commitment
by our countries to a process of forging the relations of our countries,"
said Cde Mugabe. He said the agreement on cooperation in different
sectors signed by the two countries was a good start but hoped more would
come in the future. Cde Mugabe said it would also be ideal if the two
countries' ruling parties forged ties to interact. Giving a vote of
thanks, VicePresident Cde Joice Mujuru said Zimbabweans had been challenged
and should not ignore the wise words by the two leaders. She said
it was now up to both nations to stand on their own in whatever they would
be doing. "We should not be forced to adopt foreign problems, but be
resilient and persistent to come up with programmes that suit our
expectations," she said. Cde Mujuru said Equatorial Guinea and
Zimbabwe were far from each other geographically and yet so close to each
other in outlook and spirit. "I say 'bon voyage', safe journey and
please

EU, Zimbabwe in talks

April 2, 2006.

By ANDnetwork
.com

Zimbabwe and the European Union (EU) are working to foster
co-operation in areas of common interest as the two parties move to thaw the
frosty relations between them, the Speaker of Parliament, Cde John Nkomo,
has said.

As part of this commitment, the European Commission
will soon release one million euros through the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) to help facilitate the country's parliamentary
reforms. Speaking to journalists soon after meeting the commission's
head of delegation, Ambassador Xavier Marchal, who had paid him a courtesy
call last week, Cde Nkomo, who is also the national chairman of the ruling
Zanu-PF, said they had agreed to engage in dialogue on areas that require
common focus. Although the key areas would still be considered,
emphasis would be shifted away from the differences between Zimbabwe and the
European bloc. "We spoke about our relations including the imposition
of sanctions and the EU's decision not to cooperate with Zimbabwe. We then
agreed on the need to engage in dialogue on areas that need common focus,"
said Cde Nkomo. Relations between the EU and Zimbabwe have been frosty
in the past six years following the implementation of the fast-track land
redistribution programme. Although the Government maintains the
people embarked on the land reform programme to correct the racially-skewed
land ownership pattern in the country, differences over the issue saw the
EU, at the instigation of Britain, imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe.
The European bloc also recently revised its sanctions list, reinforcing its
stance against the country. Cde Nkomo, however, said land was "no
longer an issue", pointing out that focus should now be on
co-operation. Ambassador Marchal said it was important to work towards
improving relations between Zimbabwe and the EU, a situation that could only
come by if both parties are committed. "Sanctions were imposed
because we felt the circumstances did not permit us to take another position
other than that. But I think the important issue is for us to dialogue
because there is no fatality to EU/Zimbabwe relations. "The
relations will only improve if both parties work on it and that is what we
should work towards," said Ambassador Marchal. The commission
representative's courtesy call was one of a series of meetings that he has
lined up with local stakeholders since his posting to Zimbabwe in October
last year. He said the commission would soon avail funds towards the
enunciated parliamentary reforms. Among the reforms are the
establishment of remaining Parliament Constituency Information Centres,
improving their effectiveness, purchase and installation of cameras and
ancillary equipment to facilitate live coverage of plenary sessions and
media coverage of committee meetings. So far, the UNDP, which has
allocated US$2 million to assist with the reforms, is finalising the budget
and mobilising resources for the project while Parliament has set up a
steering committee to focus on the immediate concerns of the
initiative.

Mawere in MDC crusade

April 2, 2006

By Andnetwork
.com

FUGITIVE businessman Mr Mutumwa Mawere is allegedly playing a
pivotal role in raising funds for the beleaguered MDC amid revelations that
he financially assisted some opposition candidates to contest in the March
2005 parliamentary elections.

It is understood that Mr
Mawere, who is now based in South Africa and has been on a crusade
demonising the Government, uses his fund-raising role in the MDC to get
visas to travel around the world.

Documents made available to The
Sunday Mail show that on July 22 last year, the leader of the anti-Senate
MDC faction, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, wrote a letter to a Mr W. Bucknam at the
US embassy in South Africa asking the embassy to grant the disgraced
businessman a visa to travel to the US.

Said Mr Tsvangirai in the
letter: "This letter serves to confirm that in December 2004, I corresponded
to (sic) the United States ambassador in South Africa clarifying the
political status of Mutumwa Mawere, the proprietor of Africa Resources (Pvt)
Ltd.

"The relationship between myself, the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions and the party MDC dates back to the formative
stages of the party prior to 1999.

"Mutumwa Mawere worked with
the ZCTU on investigations into corrupt practices in the pension fund
industry in Zimbabwe, including the Government-administered National Social
Security (Authority), to which ZCTU seconds board members. I confirmed in
the correspondence that Mutumwa Mawere is not a member of the ruling party
Zanu-PF and that he is an entrepreneur who is being victimised by the ruling
party structure in Masvingo province.

"He is playing a pivotal role
in raising funds for my party and also assisted a number of candidates in my
party in the March 2005 election campaign.

"Therefore his role
as a fund-raiser would be enhanced if he were to secure travel documents to
the United States on a similar mission. Any assistance you may render in
this issues (sic) would be most appreciated."

However, when asked
to comment on the allegations, the spokesperson for the anti-Senate faction,
Mr Nelson Chamisa, who was with Mr Tsvangirai at a rally in Gweru yesterday,
said: "We have no information to that effect."

Contacted for
comment yesterday, Mr Mawere, who was speaking on the phone from South
Africa, also denied the allegations, saying he is neither a member of the
opposition party nor is he affiliated to it. He said his main preoccupation
was to seek recourse through the courts over his assets, which he claimed
Government had "expropriated".

Said Mr Mawere: "It is inappropriate
for me to be fund-raising for the MDC. I am not a member (of the MDC), so in
what capacity would I be doing that?

"I am not sure where the
allegations are coming from but I am in court, fighting Government over my
assets. Unless there is evidence, I cannot be seen to be a ghost
financier."

It is understood that Mr Mawere financially assisted
the MDC MP for Kwekwe, Mr Blessing Chebundo, and Mr Elliot Pfebve, who stood
for the opposition party in Bindura.

It is understood that Mr
Mawere was later granted the US visa and he was in Washington DC from
January 17 to 23 2006, where he lobbied for Zimbabwe's expulsion from the
International Monetary Fund. His meetings in Washington were meant to
influence the IMF executive board ahead of its meeting on March 8
2006.

GMB suspends selling maize meal directly from its depots

April 2,
2006

By Andnetwork .com

HARARE - The Grain Marketing
Board (GMB) has, with immediate effect, stopped selling mealie-meal directly
from its depots amid revelations that the parastatal was losing its share of
the market as the product was no longer readily available in retail
shops.

GMB, which had hitherto allowed individuals and institutions
to purchase maize meal directly from its depots, discovered that its Silo
mealie-meal brand was now playing second fiddle to other brands because it
was no longer visible on supermarket shelves.

GMB marketing
director Mr Zvidzai Makwenda last week confirmed that the parastatal was no
longer selling mealie-meal to institutions and individuals from its
depots.

He said it had come to GMB's attention that there were some
syndicates that were buying mealie-meal in bulk from GMB depots resulting in
the product disappearing from shops.

In some instances, the
mealie-meal would be diverted to the black market where it was sold at
exorbitant prices.

Mr Makwenda said only a few organisations would
continue buying the product directly from GMB depots.

"We will
continue selling mealie-meal to farmers for their workers as farm workers
cannot afford to leave farms looking for mealie-meal.

"Other
organisations that will be allowed to buy directly from us are hospitals,
prisons, nursing homes, training centres and boarding schools," said Mr
Makwenda.

"The bulk of our Silo mealie-meal was no longer available
in supermarkets despite the fact that production is at its peak in most
depots.

"As a result, the brand was losing popularity with
consumers," he added.

Some organisations affected, however,
expressed concern at the move saying the price of the product was likely to
treble as supermarkets were free to charge their own prices.

Grains and Cereals Association chairman Mr Denford Chimbwanda said the move
by GMB is welcome as its depots were being congested with people pretending
to represent disadvantaged members of the public to access mealie-meal at
subsidised prices.

He said some councillors were being allowed to
buy the product for the wards they represented but the product never reached
the intended beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, Mr Chimbwanda has
lamented the delay in the announcement of producer price of maize saying
some farmers will be reluctant to deliver their crop to the
GMB.

"Most farmers are harvesting now and yet no price has been
announced. This dampens the spirit of farmers and there is a possibility of
them selling the crop in small quantities to individuals at prices viewed as
viable," he said.

As an association, they are proposing between
$30 and $40 million per tonne.